Tigers and Pizza
by Operatic Pierrot
Summary: Nine-year-old Bellatrix has just learned that her sister has decided to abandon her for some stupid mudblood. That won't do — that won't do at all. (AU where Bellatrix is the baby of the family) (Now a one-shot collection!)
1. Tigers and Pizza

**December 18th, 1969**

"That _traitor_!" Bellatrix's mother snarled, eyes wide as she stared at the letter in her hand. "Cygnus! Get your sister and Orion in here right this minute!"

Nine-year-old Bellatrix flinched at the vitriol in her mother's voice and tried not to draw attention to herself. If anyone remembered that she was here, she would probably be sent to her room, and this seemed important. In fact…

"Kreacher," she whispered, the House-Elf immediately appearing by her side. "Can you make sure nobody sees me?"

"As Mistress Bellatrix commands." Kreacher gave her a deep bow and snapped his fingers.

"Thanks." Bellatrix moved one of her waffles onto another plate and handed it down to the elf. "Here."

"Mistress Bellatrix is too kind." Kreacher gave her a watery smile and disappeared, plate grasped tightly in his hands.

Bellatrix returned to her breakfast, waiting for her father to return with her aunt and uncle. She didn't have to wait long.

"Has something happened, Druella?" Uncle Orion's tone was serious. "Cygnus made your summons sound quite urgent."

"Read this," Bellatrix's mother hissed, shoving the letter at him. Bellatrix _really_ wondered what it said — it had been Andy's owl that delivered it. A rush of fear ran through her — her sister was okay, right? Her mother wasn't panicking as if Andy had been hurt…

"…I see." Uncle Orion's voice shook with rage.

"The traitorous child has gotten engaged to a _mudblood_?" Aunt Walburga demanded, voice shrill. She had been reading the letter over her husband's shoulder.

"So it appears." Bellatrix's father just looked tired.

Aunt Walburga snarled. "We will be disowning her, of course."

"Good," Bellatrix's mother sounded satisfied.

Bellatrix's appetite vanished, and she lowered her fork. She felt like the world was drifting away from her. This couldn't be real, right? Andy… Andy had _gotten_ _engaged_? Andy had gotten engaged _to a mudblood_? Andy had gotten engaged to a mudblood _without telling anyone_? Andy had gotten engaged to a mudblood without telling anyone _and was getting disowned_?

How could her sister betray her like this? What was she going to do without Andy?

"Now, now." Bellatrix's father let out a heavy sigh. "Let's not rush into this. She's clearly not thinking straight — let's set up a meeting with her tomorrow to see how deep it runs." He gave a tight smile. "If we cannot persuade her to return to the fold, I will of course go along with your decision."

"That is acceptable, Cygnus." Uncle Orion put the letter down on the table. "I have no wish to see a Black lost if it can be avoided."

Bellatrix felt sick. She knew Andy — if their parents tried to force her to give up on a decision she'd made, she would just dig her heels in further. She was going to lose her sister tomorrow. She leapt to her feet.

"I'm going to my room," she announced loudly, feeling the threads of Kreacher's magic snap as she made her presence known. "Kreacher will bring me my meals."

Bellatrix rushed away and up the stairs before any of the adults had time to react to her words. As soon as she made it into her room she launched herself onto her bed and curled up around her pillow. "Kreacher," she mumbled, "seal my room. I don't want them bothering me."

"Yes, Mistress Bellatrix."

She heard a strange sucking noise and knew that her order had been carried out. Privacy assured, she began to cry.

* * *

Bellatrix wasn't sure how long she had cried, but she was finally out of tears. Now she was just _angry_. Some stupid mudblood thought he was good enough for her sister? Some stupid mudblood thought he was better than Bellatrix? More worthy of Andy than Bellatrix? Some stupid mudblood wanted to steal Andy away from her?

There was no _way_ that Bellatrix was going to let that happen. All she had to do was convince Andy to give in to their parents tomorrow… but she knew her stubborn sister. As long as the stupid mudblood was around, she wouldn't give in.

So… all she had to do was get rid of the stupid mudblood, then.

Bellatrix shifted so that she was sitting up, a thoughtful expression on her face. How could she remove the stupid mudblood from her sister's life? The only way to be _sure_ he would stay away was killing him… a smirk crawled onto her lips. That was it! She just had to kill him and make it look like it had been…

Like it had been what? An accident? Bellatrix didn't think she could pull that off without a wand, and she didn't have one.

An idea struck her.

"Kreacher!" She called.

"Yes, Mistress Bellatrix?"

"Give me really sharp teeth. Like a tiger's." As soon as she felt her teeth change, Bellatrix grinned. "Now send me to Andy's stupid mudblood. I'll call you when I'm done."

"Mistress?"

"Just do it! And if anyone asks, I'm sleeping."

"Yes, Mistress."

"Thanks, Kreacher. You're the best."

As she felt the world spin around her, Bellatrix could only stand in awe of her own genius — nobody would question why someone had died in a werewolf attack, and the trauma would be sure to drive Andy right back to her family for comfort.

* * *

Bellatrix recovered from the disorientation of being teleported a second before the ordinary-looking man in front of her recovered from his surprise at the sudden appearance of a nine-year-old-girl. She launched herself at him, mouth open, planning to bite into his throat, but he was able to get his arm up in time so that her teeth only sank into his forearm.

That was fine, she decided, gnawing on it and doing her best to ignore the metallic taste of his blood. She could start with the arms. A werewolf would leave no part of their victim intact, after all.

"What the hell?" The stupid mudblood yelped, shaking his arm. Bellatrix clung on with her teeth, batting away his one-handed attempts to pry her off. "Dromeda, a little help here?"

"Ted?" A familiar voice drifted into the room, confusion obvious in its tone. "Is something wrong?" Bellatrix's sister walked into the room, wand drawn, and froze. "…Bella?"

…Bellatrix hadn't planned for this. It was no good if she was _seen_. "'m a wrwf," she muttered around the arm in her mouth. "Grrr." Deception was worth a try.

Andy buried her face in her hands. "Bella, could you please stop trying to eat my fiancé."

"This is your sister?" The stupid mudblood sounded amused despite the obvious pain in his voice. "I should have known."

Bellatrix continued to cling on.

"Bella!" Andy was glaring now. That wasn't good.

Bellatrix reluctantly opened her mouth and dropped to the ground.

"You didn't tell me she was half-tiger, Dromeda," the stupid mudblood laughed, drawing his wand and running it over the holes in his arm. Bellatrix pouted as they disappeared.

"Last time I checked, she wasn't." Andy's voice was dry. "What in the world did you do to your teeth, Bella?"

"…asked Kreacher to make them sharp," Bellatrix mumbled.

"Why?"

"…so I could pretend to be a werewolf and kill the stupid mudblood and stop Mother and Father and Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion from disowning you."

Andy and the stupid mudblood traded a look, then Bellatrix found herself wrapped in her sister's arms.

"Oh, Bella," Andy sighed. "I knew that was a risk when I sent that letter."

"Then why?" Bellatrix demanded, feeling her tears begin pouring out again as she tightly wrapped her arms around Andy. "Why did you abandon me?"

"It's not like that, Bella." Andy rubbed her back. "I just… I don't agree with the family's views, on a lot of things… and I love Ted."

"He's just some stupid mudblood," Bellatrix whimpered. "Why do you love him more than me?"

"I don't, Bella. I promise." Andy lifted Bellatix up into her arms and carried her over to the couch. "But… I never would have been happy if I went along with the family's plans for me. They wanted me to marry a vile man that I hated, all for the sake of 'blood purity' that I don't care about."

"But now I'll never see you again!" Bellatrix wailed. "You picked that stupid mudblood over me!"

"Stop using that word, Bella. Now." Andy looked genuinely angry.

"What word? Stupid?" Bellatrix was confused. The stupid mudblood was a _stupid_ mudblood. Why was Andy upset that she was calling him that?

"No, Bella. 'Mudblood.'" Andy let out a sigh. "It's a slur, Bella. A cruel one. Muggleborns aren't any different than you or me."

"But they're born from filthy Muggles," Bellatrix pointed out.

"Muggles aren't filthy. They're… incredible." Andy stroked Bellatrix's hair. "Please, Bella. Stop using that word. For me?"

"Why?" Bellatrix forced down her instinct to agree, focusing on her sense of betrayal. "Why would I do that for you when you're betraying me?"

"Because even if the family disowns me, that doesn't mean I won't ever see you again."

"What…?" Bellatrix's brow furrowed. Of course that was what it meant.

"Think about it, Bella." Andy gave her a soft smile. "Does the family know you're here _now_?"

"…no," Bellatrix admitted. "Kreacher brought me here."

"You're definitely sneaky enough to be able to come over whenever you want, right?" Andy pressed a kiss to Bellatrix's forehead. "You're not going to let the family tell you what you can do."

"…yeah." A fire was burning in Bellatrix's eyes. "That's right. They can't stop me from seeing you!" She paused. "But…" She glared over at the stupid mudblood. "I don't want to see _him_."

"Bella, have you ever _met_ a Muggleborn?"

"…no." Bellatrix didn't think biting Andy's fiancé counted.

"What about a Muggle?"

"…no." Bellatrix hadn't even so much as bitten a Muggle.

"Look at Ted." Bellatrix did, even though she didn't want to. "Does he really look any different from a pureblood?"

"…no." Bellatrix hated to admit it, but he didn't.

"Did his blood _taste_ like mud?"

"…no." It had tasted just like her own blood.

"Can you give him a chance? For me?"

"…Fine." Bellatrix glared at the stupid mud— at the stupid sister thief. "But don't think this means I like you!" She jabbed her finger at him. "Stupid sister thief!"

"I understand." The stupid sister thief gave her a small smile. "I promise, Bella, I wasn't trying to take your sister from you."

"You don't get to call me that!" Bellatrix growled. "It's 'Lady Bellatrix' to you, you stupid sister thief!"

"Yes, Lady Bellatrix," the sister thief chuckled.

"Bella!" Andy admonished.

"No, no. It's okay, Andy," the stupid sister thief soothed. "I understand where she's coming from." He walked over to the couch and leaned over, presenting his hand to Bellatrix. "Lady Bellatrix, thank you for giving me the chance to prove myself."

"Hmph." Bellatrix thrust her nose into the air, but gave his hand a quick shake. "You should feel honored, you stupid sister thief. I'm only doing this because Andy asked me to."

"Believe me, Lady Bellatrix, I'm _extremely_ grateful."

"Good," Bellatrix huffed. She looked around the room for the first time, really taking it in. "What is _that_?" There was a bizarre box across from the couch.

" _That_ , Bella, is a television." Andy sounded smug. "It's a Muggle device that's…" She paused. "Imagine combining a radio and a photograph."

"What?" Bellatrix stared at the 'television', uncomprehending. "How does that work?"

"I don't really understand it myself," the stupid sister thief admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Electricity and a lot of science?"

"What's 'science'?" Bellatrix asked suspiciously. There was no _way_ this 'television' did what Andy said it did, was there? Muggles didn't have magic, after all. She'd heard their photographs didn't even move.

"It's what Muggles substitute for magic." Andy's eyes were sparkling. "It's so cool, Bella! They keep making all of these discoveries."

"Prove it," Bellatrix challenged. "Show me that this 'television' works."

"Sure." The stupid sister thief picked up a bizarre, rectangular object and pointed it at the television. A moment later, Bellatrix was watching as a nicely-dressed Muggle woman read off the morning news. It was exactly what Andy had said it was.

"W-What?" Bellatrix stared. "H-How? How did Muggles do this without magic?"

"They don't have magic, so they need to find workarounds." Andy shrugged. "They're really quite clever."

Bellatrix didn't know what to say. The existence of this 'television' flew in the face of everything she'd ever heard about Muggles. If they were capable of creating something like that… was _anything_ she'd been told true?

"How long have Muggles had televisions?" She asked quietly.

"They were invented back in the 1920s," the stupid sister thief replied.

"…oh." Bellatrix slumped back against the couch. That long ago…? It wasn't just a sudden increase in Muggle ability, then — Muggles had probably _always_ been that clever. "Why haven't I heard of this?"

"I doubt Mother and Father know," Andy admitted. "The magical world doesn't tend to pay much attention to Muggles."

"So tell them!" Bellatrix begged. "If you can show them that Muggles aren't just stupid filth, they won't disown you, right?"

"…they wouldn't listen, Bella." Andy rubbed at her eyes. "I've tried to tell them before."

Bellatrix clenched her fists. It wasn't fair!

"I'm sorry." Andy wrapped her in another hug. "How long do you have until our parents will get suspicious?"

"All day," Bellatrix mumbled. "I told them I would have Kreacher get me food. He's covering for me."

"I owe that elf something nice…" Andy laughed, shaking her head. "So we have the whole day to ourselves, do we? I—" She was cut off by a rapping on the window.

"I'll get it," the stupid sister thief called, moving to let in the large owl that was waiting outside. It took off the moment that he removed the letter from its leg. "…it says it's from Orion Black."

"Uncle Orion…" Andy sighed. "That'll be the letter disowning me, then."

"No," the stupid sister thief replied, shaking his head slowly as he read the letter. "Actually… he wants to meet with you tomorrow to determine your future in the House of Black."

"Father convinced him to give you a chance." Bellatrix buried her face in Andy's chest. "If you break off the marriage and return, they'll forgive you."

"That's not happening." Andy's mouth was a thin line. "I'll meet with him, but I'm not budging on my position."

"I know," Bellatrix whispered. "That's why I came."

"Oh, Bella." Andy stroked her hair. "I'm sorry." After a moment of silence, she spoke again. "Ted, do you think Bella would like that movie we saw the other day?"

"That animated one from the States?" The stupid sister thief stroked his chin. "Yeah, maybe."

"What's a 'movie'?" Bellatrix asked, eyes narrowed. "And what does animation have to do with anything?"

"You remember the television? A movie is an entire story that plays out on a television." Andy grinned. "It's incredible, Bella. As for animation, well…" Andy paused. "Think of portraits rather than photographs."

"Muggles made those, too?" Bellatrix demanded.

"They did," Andy replied.

"…show me."

* * *

Bellatrix glared distrustfully back at the car as they headed into the so-called 'movie theater'. She didn't trust the stupid contraption as far as she could throw it, but it _had_ gotten them safely to their destination, just as Andy had promised.

That didn't change the fact that it was a horrible deathtrap, though. She had insisted that Andy be the one to 'drive' — there was no way she was trusting her safety to the Muggle device _and_ the stupid sister thief.

"Two adults and one child for _A Boy Named Charlie Brown_ , please," the stupid sister thief told the Muggle woman standing behind the odd window. There were Muggles _everywhere_. Bellatrix stared at them, trying to see the filth she was sure was all over them — but they looked just like anybody else she'd ever seen, even if their clothing was silly.

"Certainly, sir," the Muggle behind the counter replied, sliding the stupid sister thief three pieces of paper in exchange for some other paper that he pulled out of an odd little leather pocket that he took out of his actual pocket.

"What's that?" Bellatrix whispered to Andy. "Why is she taking that paper?" She could guess that the papers the stupid sister thief had received were some kind of tickets, but why hadn't he given her money for them?

"Muggle money," Andy whispered back. "It's much easier to carry around than wizarding money."

Bellatrix had to concede that paper was probably easy to carry than giant coins, at least if you didn't have extension charms, but how did it have any value? It was just paper! Muggles were _weird_.

"Here you go, Lady Bellatrix." The stupid sister thief presented Bellatrix with one of the three tickets. "The movie starts in twenty minutes, which should give us plenty of time to get some popcorn."

"What is 'popcorn'?" Bellatrix asked, not bothering to hide her frustration. She felt like an idiot, not knowing all of these things that Andy and the stupid sister thief seemed to think were obvious.

"It's a snack that you _need_ to eat during movies." Andy smirked. "It's not exactly good for you, but that's fine for a treat."

Andy and Bellatrix stood behind the stupid sister thief as he ordered two large buckets of popcorn, both 'with extra butter', whatever that was supposed to mean in the context of 'popcorn'. One of the buckets was handed to Bellatrix.

"A large for her, Ted? Really?" Andy sounded amused.

"It's her first time, Andy. I remember _yours_."

"Ha!" Andy let out a loud bark of laughter. "I'm sure you do, dear."

"…yes. Well." The stupid sister thief's face was bright red for some reason. "That aside, we should go get some seats."

The room that they were apparently going to be watching the movie in was large and dark. An enormous screen made up one wall, while the rest of the room was full of chairs. Andy led them to a row near the middle of the room.

"You don't want to be too close," Andy explained. "That makes it too loud. But you don't want to be too far away, either."

"I see." She didn't, but Bellatrix wasn't about to admit that. She looked down at the bucket of popcorn in her lap. It didn't look anything like corn to her. "…how do I eat this?" It hadn't come with a fork or any other kind of utensil.

"With your fingers." Andy snagged a piece from the bucket she was sharing with the stupid sister thief and tossed it into her mouth.

"Is that… sanitary?" Bellatrix winced.

"It's fine." Andy waved her hand dismissively.

Bellatrix stared doubtfully down at her bucket of popcorn, then picked up a piece and carefully put it in her mouth. She chewed slowly and made a face.

"…it tastes like salted butter," she complained.

"If you don't want it, I'll eat it," the stupid sister thief offered, leaning over so that he could see her past Andy.

"No!" Bellatrix hugged the bucket to her chest and leaned back. "It's mine!"

Andy let out a snort. "You'd say that even if you hated it, wouldn't you."

Bellatrix sniffed haughtily and ate another piece of the popcorn. She didn't really like it much, but there was no way that she was going to let the stupid sister thief have it if it _he_ liked it.

The few lights in the room went out, and the screen lit up.

"It's about to begin," Andy whispered. "There will probably be some commercials first. Keep quiet during the movie, okay? It's rude to talk when it's playing."

Bellatrix nodded. She could be quiet.

* * *

"That boy was an _idiot_ ," Bellatrix muttered as they left the theater, tossing her empty bucket in the can marked for garbage. "Good-for-nothing trash that will never amount to anything."

"Really?" Andy raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes." Bellatrix ignored the part of her that had taken a rather different lesson from the movie.

"So you didn't like it, then?" The stupid sister thief asked.

"…I didn't say _that_." Bellatrix turned her head away so they couldn't see her expression.

Andy's hand ruffled her hair. "We'll have to take you to see some more movies in the future, then."

"…I guess I wouldn't mind that." Bellatrix did her best to maintain a stoic face.

"Great!" The stupid sister thief clapped his hands together, then checked his watch. "We should do something about lunch, I think." His eyes drifted around the area as they left the movie theater, and a smile grew on his face. "Hey, Andy. What do you think Lady Bellatrix would think of pizza?"

"I think introducing Bella to pizza will create a monster," Andy laughed. "Let's do it."

Bellatrix didn't like being the butt of a joke that was going right over her head, but she stayed silent and followed the two adults to a small restaurant on the other side of the 'parking lot'.

Andy and Bellatrix sat down at a table as the stupid sister thief got in line to order their food at the counter. Bellatrix wrinkled her nose in disgust at the state of the table — it wasn't _filthy_ , but it certainly wasn't _clean_.

"Bella." Andy's shaking voice grabbed Bellatrix's attention — it sounded like she was holding back tears. "Thank you."

"…for what?"

"For… for all of this. For giving Ted a chance. For going to the movie, and coming here to try pizza." Andy wiped at her eyes. "For… not hating me."

"…I could never hate you, Andy," Bellatrix mumbled. "You're my sister."

"I bet Narcissa hates me," Andy muttered bitterly.

"…I don't think she even knows yet." Bellatrix shrugged. "She's still at Hogwarts. But…" She hesitated. "I'm… I'm sure she'll give you a chance." Admittedly, Bellatrix wasn't _actually_ sure of that at all. Cissy was… judgmental, and proud, and maybe a little nasty sometimes. Bellatrix certainly didn't plan on endangering her trips to visit Andy by letting Cissy know that she was taking them, but she might encourage their sister to _write_ to Andy.

"…right." Andy's voice held the same doubt as Bellatrix's thoughts. "I'm just glad that I'm not losing _both_ of my sisters."

Bellatrix felt a burning in her eyes and did her best to blink it away. "All of this Muggle stuff… I really don't understand it." She swallowed. "But… it's not so bad. And… and that stupid sister thief… seems to make you happy, so…" She shook her head. "It might take me a little while to get used to it, but I will. I will! For you…"

"Thank you, Bella." Andy's smile made all of Bellatrix's reservations fly away.

"Here you are, my ladies." The stupid sister thief interrupted the moment — of course he did, he was stupid and a thief — and placed a box down on the table before taking a seat himself. "One pizza, fresh from the oven."

When Bellatrix took her first bite of the pizza, she learned that Andy had been right.

She loved it.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **It's been a while since I've written anything, so hopefully I've still got something of the touch! This is silly oneshot for now, but I've got some ideas for other little snippets set in the same universe, and maybe even a longer story starting at Hogwarts.**

 **In this AU, Andromeda was born in 1951 (when Bellatrix would have been born), and Ted's age was similarly bumped up. Narcissa was born at the same time as in canon, while Bellatrix was born in 1960, which puts her in the same age group as Lily, Severus, and the Marauders… so if that Hogwarts story ever gets written, she'll have some interesting contemporaries.**

 **Hope you liked it!**


	2. Bellatrix Black

**Now a series of oneshots! This one follows immediately after chapter one, but they won't all be immediately sequential like this.**

 **December 24th, 1969**

"Is it true?" Narcissa demanded, her eyes boring into Bellatrix's. "Did Andromeda really marry a Mudblood?"

"…yes, she did," Bellatrix admitted, fighting down her instinctive desire to honor Andy's wishes by insisting that Narcissa call Ted a 'Muggleborn.' There was a time and place, and this was not it.

She felt a little bad about it, though.

"That idiot!" Narcissa snarled. "What was she thinking?"

Bellatrix shrugged weakly. The answer was obviously 'she loves him,' as hard as it was for Bellatrix to believe, but she thought Narcissa would have an even harder time accepting that. As it stood, Bellatrix herself still resented Ted… but having examined her feelings over the course of the last week, she had to admit that she didn't think she'd have reacted any better if Andy had married a Pureblood. The problem hadn't really been that Ted was a Muggleborn — it was that he had taken Andy away. She could sneak away at almost any time with Kreacher's help, so it wasn't like Andy being disowned was really any more of an obstacle than her moving out in general would have been.

Bellatrix hated being reasonable sometimes, but Andy wouldn't let her be any other way.

"Well," Narcissa huffed, staring out the window. "I suppose that means she won't be receiving her Christmas present."

"Why not?" Bellatrix asked softly. Narcissa's eyes snapped to hers. "She's still our sister, Cissy. Even if…"

"She betrayed us, Bella," Narcissa growled. "She betrayed the family and let filthy Muggle blood pollute our bloodline."

Bellatrix swallowed, a nasty suspicion forming in her mind that 'Muggleborn' was probably not really any better a term than 'Mudblood.' She couldn't remember the history of the word 'Muggle,' but she didn't think it was anything good — she would need to check the library later. If she was going to do this 'not judging people for things they can't control' thing, she was going to do it right.

"I still love her," Bellatrix admitted quietly.

"Oh, Bella," Cissy sighed, shaking her head. "You're too sweet for your own good." She patted Bellatrix on the head, causing the younger girl to bristle. "You may love her, but it's clear she doesn't love you back. Better to forget about her." She locked eyes with Bellatrix and leaned in closer, almost to the point that she was pressing her nose to Bellatrix's. "We have no older sister."

Bellatrix burst into tears and fled Narcissa's room, ignoring her sister's call for her to come back. She threw herself onto her bed.

"Kreacher," she gasped out. "Please seal my room."

"Of course, Mistress Bellatrix," the old House-Elf agreed, appearing with a soft pop.

"Thank you," she sniffled, holding out her arms. Kreacher carefully climbed onto her bed and hugged her. She clung to him.

"What's wrong, Mistress Bellatrix?" Kreacher asked gently.

"Everyone wants me to forget about Andy," Bellatrix whimpered. "Mother and Father already told me not to talk about her anymore, and now Cissy…"

Kreacher rubbed Bellatrix's back. "Mistress Andromeda betrayed the family," he ventured, uncertain.

"All she did was marry someone she loves!" Bellatrix countered. "The family could have accepted it!"

"Accepted a Mudblood?" Kreacher asked, revolted.

"Kreacher, can I tell you something secret?" Bellatrix asked. "Without you telling anyone else?" She could order him not to speak about it, but she had never been comfortable with treating the House-Elf as a mere servant. He was a friend, and she preferred to ask him to do things rather than order him around. The only other member of the family who seemed to share her opinion was her younger cousin Regulus, but who knew if that would last.

"Of course, Mistress Bellatrix," Kreacher promised.

"Andy showed me around the…" Bellatrix hesitated. "…non-magical world a little when I had you send me to her," Bellatrix confessed. If she didn't know whether or not 'Muggle' was a slur, it was better to err on the side of caution. She didn't think Andy would use it if it was, but what if she had just gotten so used to it being the alternative that she didn't really think about it…? "It's nothing like we've been told, Kreacher. They've got all kinds of amazing things." She hesitated. "Kreacher, I want to show you. Can I show you?" It was Christmas Eve, which meant that Kreacher wouldn't be needed for anything until dinner — all of the other preparations had been finished a few days ago. They had almost eight hours, more than enough time for a trip.

"What does Mistress Bellatrix mean?" Kreacher asked.

"Please take me to Gringotts so I can convert some of my money to non-magical money," Bellatrix requested. "Then disguise yourself and come with me to the non-magical world. I want to show you something called a 'movie.'"

Kreacher looked uncomfortable. "What if Mistress Bellatrix catches something from the filthy Muggles?"

"I won't, Kreacher," Bellatrix promised. "They're not filthy at all. I'll show you. Please?"

Looking at the earnest expression on his young mistress' face, Kreacher caved. She had always been the kindest to him out of all the Blacks he'd served, and with the way she treated him as a friend and confidant rather than a servant, he didn't think he'd ever be able to deny her anything. "As Mistress Bellatrix wishes."

"Thank you, Kreacher," Bellatrix said.

* * *

They left the theater a couple of hours later, Kreacher clearly dazed. "That really wasn't magic, Mistress Bellatrix?"

"No," Bellatrix said. "It's something they call 'science.'"

Kreacher looked around at all of the non-magical people walking past them, at all of the stores and at the strange 'cars.' "It's nothing like Kreacher thought," he admitted. "The Muggles are…" He grimaced. "Smarter than Kreacher was led to believe."

"See?" Bellatrix said. "The family is wrong, Kreacher. Even if they don't have magic, they're not that bad."

"Kreacher can't disagree with Mistress Bellatrix," Kreacher mumbled. "Wizards don't have anything like that."

"I know!" Bellatrix complained. "Just imagine it! With magic, you could even have smell and touch and taste!" Her eyes slid across the parking lot to the pizza parlor that Andy and Ted had taken her to. "Kreacher, we're getting pizza."

"Mistress Bellatrix?" Kreacher asked, confused.

"It's a kind of non-magical food. There's a restaurant over there that sells it," Bellatrix explained, pointing. "It's really good!"

"If Mistress Bellatrix says so," Kreacher replied, sounding a little less doubtful than he had originally been about the outing.

The House-Elf's mild doubt lasted only as long as it took for their pizza to arrive at their table. The smell alone had him salivating.

"Mistress Bellatrix was right again," Kreacher confessed.

"Of course I was!" Bellatrix declared haughtily, the effect undercut by the cheeky smile she was wearing.

"Even if Kreacher agrees that Muggles… may not be as filthy as Kreacher thought they were, the family won't agree," Kreacher warned. "Mistress Andromeda was still disowned, Mistress Bellatrix."

"…I know," Bellatrix whispered. "But, Kreacher… with your help, I can keep seeing her. Please?" She made no move to wipe away the tears beading in her eyes.

"Kreacher will help, Mistress Bellatrix," Kreacher promised.

"Thanks, Kreacher," Bellatrix mumbled, giving him a watery smile. "You're the best."

Kreacher blushed and covered his face with his hands. "Mistress Bellatrix is too kind," he croaked.

Bellatrix finished up her last slice of pizza, then checked the clock on the wall. It was just hitting noon.

"Kreacher," she said, inspiration striking her. "Let's go shopping."

"Shopping, Mistress Bellatrix?"

"For non-magical clothing," Bellatrix said. "If I'm going to be visiting Andy, I need to be able to blend in better than, um… this." She looked down at herself. She'd been receiving odd looks all day, and she was sure it was because of her robes. Non-magical fashion looked interesting. She was glad she hadn't know how much movie tickets were and had ended up converting far too much money.

"Kreacher thinks that makes sense," Kreacher agreed. "Kreacher would be happy to accompany Mistress Bellatrix."

Bellatrix grinned at him.

* * *

"How does this look, Kreacher?" Bellatrix asked, holding up a green shirt.

"Kreacher thinks that it goes well with Mistress Bellatrix's eyes," Kreacher said, tilting his head. "But it's too light for Mistress Bellatrix's complexion." He picked up a similar-looking shirt in a darker shade. "Kreacher thinks this one is better."

Bellatrix compared the two shirts, then nodded. "Good call, Kreacher." She was using the non-magical people she'd been observing as a guideline for what constituted proper fashion, and she hoped she was doing it right. Kreacher had proved extremely helpful — he was observant, and he had served enough generations of Blacks that he had a good eye for colors. "I think that's enough shirts." She looked at the small pile of shirts and underthings that she'd accumulated. "We should see about skirts now."

Kreacher nodded. "I saw some that way, Mistress Bellatrix," he said, pointing.

"Lead on!" Bellatrix cheered. Her enthusiasm lasted until they reached the skirts in question — even the longest of them was scandalously short, leaving her knees exposed. She supposed that matched what she'd seen on the non-magical women she'd been watching, but she hadn't thought that she wouldn't even be able to find a skirt of decent length.

"Hmm…" Bellatrix muttered, holding a skirt up to her waist and wincing. It barely covered her thighs.

"Kreacher thinks that Mistress Bellatrix shouldn't wear that," Kreacher muttered darkly. "Kreacher doesn't want anybody getting ideas." He glared around balefully.

"I agree, Kreacher," Bellatrix said. She cast her eyes around and noticed a display of pants. "Hmm…" She wandered over and picked up a pair. The sign called them 'jeans.' "Oh, I like these…" To her relief, they were proper pants, and went all the way down to cover her ankles. The only problem was the fact that the pockets didn't seem like they were designed to actually hold anything. "Kreacher, are there any like these but with better pockets?"

The House-Elf frowned, a look of intense focus coming onto his face as he scanned the store with his magic. "There are being some in the boys' section," Kreacher finally announced.

Bellatrix snorted. "Of course," she grumbled. "Well, let's go see if any of those fit me."

"Mistress Bellatrix?" Kreacher asked, sounding scandalized.

"They're 'pants,' Kreacher," Bellatrix pointed out. "They'll cover me just as well."

"Kreacher supposes Mistress Bellatrix is correct," Kreacher grudgingly admitted.

Bellatrix was much more satisfied with the pockets on the boys' jeans, and added several pairs that fit her to the pile. "I just need some footwear now, Kreacher," she said.

"The signs say that shoes are that way," Kreacher announced.

Bellatrix followed the signs Kreacher was pointing at, but not before grabbing herself a package of non-magical socks.

When they got to the shoe section, Bellatrix was struck dumb. There were so many kinds of shoes! The magical world stuck to a handful of styles, but Bellatrix could see dozens here. That was insane! How was anybody supposed to know which shoes they were supposed to wear?

Well. She'd just have to be sensible about things. She stalked down the aisle, glaring at the shoes, until she spotted a pair of black boots that looked like they could actually survive being worn out and about. The only problem was that they were too high for her to reach.

"Kreacher, can you find a pair of those in my size?" Bellatrix asked, pointing.

"Of course, Mistress Bellatrix," Kreacher agreed. It didn't take him long at all to find her a pair.

"They need to be broken in a bit," Bellatrix mumbled, grimacing. "But I think I like them."

"They's good shoes," Kreacher agreed, inspecting them. "Sturdy."

"Good," Bellatrix declared. "Let's go pay, Kreacher."

As it turned out, the remnants of the money she had converted barely covered the cost of the clothing. She was left with three 'pounds,' which if she remembered the exchange rate at Gringotts correctly was just under half of a Galleon.

"This was a very productive day," Bellatrix commented.

"Mistress Bellatrix…" Kreacher began, then hesitated. "Please be careful. If Mistress Bellatrix was disowned…" The House-Elf's eyes were watering.

"Oh, Kreacher," Bellatrix sighed, pulling the elf into a hug. "I'll do my best, but I can't promise the family won't find out someday. And… I won't give up just because of that. I can't."

"…Kreacher understands," Kreacher croaked, smiling sadly. "Mistress Bellatrix is stubborn."

"If they plan to disown me, I'll give you clothes before they can," Bellatrix declared, a surge of inspiration hitting her. "Then I'll hire you back for myself."

Kreacher flinched. "Kreacher would need to think about that," he said carefully. "Kreacher has served the Blacks for a long time, Mistress Bellatrix."

"…oh. Right," Bellatrix mumbled, shrinking in on herself. "I'm sorry, Kreacher. I didn't think—"

"Kreacher knows Mistress Bellatrix was being nice," Kreacher said, patting her hand. "Kreacher is just old and set in his ways." He looked around the sidewalk. "But Mistress Bellatrix has already changed so much for Kreacher. Kreacher doesn't know what the future holds."

Bellatrix beamed.

* * *

When they returned to her room, Bellatrix hid her new clothing in a drawer that Kreacher hid for her with his magic. She couldn't afford for anyone to find out about it.

"Thank you for coming with me, Kreacher," Bellatrix said, hugging the House-Elf again.

"Kreacher… enjoyed himself, Mistress Bellatrix," Kreacher said, hugging her back.

"I'm glad," Bellatrix whispered.

After a moment, Kreacher disentangled himself from the hug and smiled up at her. "Kreacher needs to be preparing the Christmas Eve dinner now, Mistress Bellatrix."

"I'll see you later, then," Bellatrix said. The elf disappeared with a soft pop, leaving Bellatrix alone in her room. Her eyes slid to the drawer containing her new clothes.

Bellatrix knew what she'd be doing while she waited for dinner.

* * *

Dinner was proving to be an awkward affair. It was the first Christmas Eve dinner without Andy, after all, and her absence was like an elephant in the room. The only one who seemed as upset about it as Bellatrix was her idiot cousin Sirius, of all people. She might have tried to talk to him about the situation, but… Bellatrix watched as he berated Kreacher. No.

Sirius was always doing that. He hated the family — something that Bellatrix couldn't bring herself to do, even if she resented them — and seemed to be trying to rebel against them in every way that he could. The family treated Kreacher decently, if as a servant, so Sirius was cruel to him. Bellatrix suspected that Sirius would be interested in learning about the non-magical world, but only out of spite. She didn't like that. The non-magical world deserved better.

Bellatrix had to suppress mad laughter at that thought. Andy had really corrupted her, and it had only taken her a couple of hours. But the truth was…

The truth was that Bellatrix didn't like hating people, even when the family told her she was supposed to. Being confronted with the fact that non-magical people were really, truly people, with hopes and dreams and all of these fascinating inventions…

Bellatrix didn't want to hate them, and wasn't sure if she even could.

Ted was still a stupid sister-thief, though.

After dinner, everyone drifted off. The adults went to the living room to smoke and talk, Cissy went to her room, Sirius and Regulus went out to the garden… and Bellatrix went to the library.

It didn't take her long to find a book that contained the information she was looking for — the Black library was incredibly well-organized, and Bellatrix spent more time than was probably healthy reading everything she could find. She knew the theory behind all kinds of magic, even if she'd never actually had the chance to test it.

She was going to be the best witch the Black family had ever produced, after all.

But today she wasn't looking up some new and interesting kind of magic. She just wanted to know the history of the world 'Muggle.'

Bellatrix stared down at the page in disgust. It was a term coined to emphasize that non-magical people were easily fooled. Of course it was. She snorted and shoved the book back onto the shelf with a little more force than was strictly necessary.

She would need to tell Andy. Bellatrix wasn't sure what term she'd use to replace 'Muggleborn,' but she wasn't going to use that word if she could help it. 'Newblood,' maybe? She'd have to think about it.

But Bellatrix swore to herself that she would never use a slur to talk about someone. She had to be better than that.

Because she was Bellatrix Black, and here and now she swore that she wasn't just going to be the best witch the Black family had ever produced — she was going to be the greatest witch in history, even if the Black family disowned her.

A smile on her face, she pulled down a text on metamorphmagi that she'd been working her way through, ready to learn more about the mysteries of transfiguration.

She was Bellatrix Black, and the world wasn't ready for her.


End file.
